When we took it down from the wall, Barbara Romey treated the framed certificate like a delicate work of art. No one at the newspaper knew she was taking it. But because she's a historian, I knew she'd take good care of the Ledger's Pulitzer Prize.

OK, so it was the certificate. The gold Pulitzer medal is tucked away in a vault. That didn't diminish the value of this piece of paper that had been displayed at the newspaper since 1955.

Barbara and I met when her class from South Girard Junior High came to the Ledger-Enquirer to talk about the Phenix City cleanup. I expected blank stares and elementary questions. Not from her students. They were locked and loaded.